1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for computing systems and to methods and techniques for providing help to the user during the running of application programs on a computing system.
2. Description of Related Art
As graphical user interface (GUI) operating system environments have come to dominate the computer industry, on-line help documentation (hereinafter referred to as an On-line Help System) is-generally implemented in a GUI environment. Many GUI environments, such as Microsoft.RTM. Windows.TM. ver. 3.X, Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT.RTM., IBM Corporation's OS/2.RTM., and Geoworks.RTM. have been developed. As this is written, Microsoft Windows ver. 3.X is far and away the most used interface, having been bundled within nearly every personal computer sold within the past five years. However, Windows 95 is expected to become the GUI of choice for both home and business applications and may eventually eclipse ver. 3.X as the most used GUI interface. GUIs generally have the following common characteristics:
A graphical pointer or cursor is present within each window displayed; PA1 The pointer or cursor can be moved to any location within the window by moving a pointing device, such as a mouse; PA1 Movement of the pointer or cursor tracks movement of the pointing device; PA1 Commands to the program may be input through either a keyboard or through the pointing device; PA1 Certain bit-mapped images and/or text items are assigned "hot" status, which means that such an image or item may be activated in order to send a command to the program; PA1 Input via the pointing device is accomplished by moving the pointer or cursor so that it is positioned over a "hot" bit-mapped image or text item, and pressing a particular button on the pointing device. Such input is known as clicking. PA1 Reduce the amount of text displayed in a topic window; PA1 Cater to a wider variety of users: those who want to access the secondary information, as well as those who do not want to access the secondary information; PA1 Replace a formidable-looking, lengthy tract of information that users might choose not to read in the main help window with an attractive, easily-accessible button that a user would want to click. The same information that looks oppressive in a main window appears convenient and pleasant in a pop-up.
An On-line Help System operating in a Windows environment incorporates a "help engine," which is a software program module designed to understand requests for action from the On-line Help System. The Microsoft Windows 95 operating system incorporates a help engine program module called "WinHelp 4".
Requests for action from the On-line Help System are input by activating "hot" bit-mapped images or text items (hereinafter collectively referred to as activation entities) to which help engine program links are assigned. When a user clicks on an activation entity which is programmed to request such action, the On-line Help System calls the help engine, which responds by displaying a new window.
Two types of video monitor display formats, which are called "windows" are available within the Microsoft Windows GUI On-line Help System: topic windows and pop-ups. Both types of windows may be utilized by developers of an On-line Help System written for a Microsoft Windows GUI environment.
A topic window is a standard, fully-functional window which has a title bar, and which can be closed by clicking a "close window" icon located within the title bar once the user has reviewed the desired information.
A pop-up, on the other hand, is an on-line graphical box that temporarily displays information when a user clicks on an activation entity. Pop-ups, which are sometimes called pop-up boxes or pop-up windows, generally displace only a portion of the topic window. A pop-up can generally be closed simply by clicking anywhere outside the pop-up box in the undisplaced portion of the topic window, thus fully restoring the latter.
Designers of the On-line Help System rely on the use of pop-ups to keep a secondary level of information which a user may or may not want to access out of the main help windows of the On-line Help System. By moving this information to an accessible and less visible layer of the On-line Help System, designers of such systems can:
The user of a computer program undergoing execution by a computing system is frequently required to provide an input in response to a displayed instruction for each step of a series of procedural steps. If written documentation provided with the program lacks a description or graphical representation of the result of each step as it is completed, the user can only hope that each input is correct and that the program is operating as designed. Classic examples of multi-step procedures are-found in software installation programs. As the installation process is likely the user's first encounter with the software, confusion, uncertainty, frustration, and even anger may result if the process does not proceed smoothly. Frustration is typically heightened if the installation program "crashes", or the resulting installed software fails to function as designed by its developers. If users don't know what to expect as the result of a particular installation step, they may be apprehensive about proceeding with subsequent steps.
To mitigate the difficulties that users often face during the operation of their programs, instructional documentation may be provided with a software product in the form of hard-copy manuals and on-line help. Hard copy documentation may provide either a textual description of the result of each step of a procedure or an illustration (e.g., a screen-capture) of the graphical user interface which shows the intended result of the step. However, with respect to an On-line Help System, documentation which provides result descriptions for procedures and steps of procedures lengthens the content displayed in a topic window, and takes up too much of the visual area perceived by a user. Usability studies have shown that users do not like to scroll through more than three screens of information. Screens beyond three are likely to be ignored. Topic windows, lengthened by procedural results, compel users to scroll through either a long screen or several screens of information that some users may consider irrelevant. By the time a user has reviewed the extensive help information, closed the help window and returned to the main screen, the user may have forgotten the gist of the procedure. Users face a similar problem when software provides lengthy warnings associated with a step or procedure.
Although result and warning displays may provide useful information within the On-line Help System--particularly if the hard copy documentation has been lost or misplaced--every user may not want, or need, to access them. Users who already have experience with the program may not require the additional information. Other users may simply not want to be bothered with non-essential information.